People undergoing weight loss surgery experience changes in appetite, taste and smell

A new study suggests that patients who undergo Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery, during which one's stomach is made smaller and small intestines shortened, report changes in appetite, taste and smell.

These sensory changes are not all negative, and could lead to more weight loss among patients, Lisa Graham, lead author of a study by researchers from Leicester Royal Infirmary in the UK, said.

Their findings showed that after gastric bypass surgery, patients frequently report sensory changes.

Graham and her colleagues said that their day-to-day experience with patients who have undergone gastric bypass surgery suggested these changes, but surprisingly little has yet been written about it in scientific literature.

To this end, questionnaires were sent out to patients who had undergone the procedure at the University Hospitals of Leicester between 2000 and 2011.

In total, 103 patients answered the 33 questions about appetite, taste and smell set to them.

Of the respondents, almost all (97 percent) reported changes to their appetite after having the surgery.

Their experiences varied, with subjects reporting that their sense of smell and taste were either unchanged, heightened or reduced.

Forty-two percent of respondents said their sense of smell changed. Seventy-three percent of patients noted change in the way food tasted, and especially in their sweet and sour palate.

Respondents especially noted a change in the taste of chicken, beef, pork, roast meat, lamb or sausages, while fish, fast foods, chocolate, greasy foods, pasta and rice were also high on the list.

Three out of every four (73 percent) patients noted that they had developed an aversion to specific foods after the surgery.

Meat products topped the list, with one in every three patients steering away from chicken, minced beef, beef steak, sausages, lamb, ham or bacon.

Starches such as pasta, rice, bread and pastry and dairy products such as cream, ice cream, cheese and eggs were a no-no for almost 12 percent of respondents. Only 4 percent of respondents reported having an aversion for vegetables, 3 percent for fruit, and 1 percent for tinned fish.

Interestingly, patients who experienced food aversions enjoyed significantly more postoperative weight loss and reduction in their body mass index (BMI) compared to their counterparts without such dislikes.

The findings are published in Springer's journal Obesity Surgery.